Freda Josephine McDonald Biography: Josephine Baker was a French entertainer who was born on 3 June 1906. She was born in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States. Baker had a difficult upbringing, as she quit school and became a street child. She slept under cardboard structures in the streets and rummaged through garbage cans for sustenance. In 1925, Baker relocated to Paris, where she achieved success as a performer. She was nicknamed “The Black Pearl” by the era’s intellectuals and artists. Here, we will help you celebrate Josephine’s special day.
Freda Josephine McDonald Biography
Early Years
Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on June 3, 1906. Her mother’s name was Carrie, while her father’s name was Eddie Carson. Her early childhood was spent in hardship. She resided at 212 Targee Street in St. Louis’s Mill Creek Valley, a low-income area with brothels, rooming houses, and apartments without indoor sanitation. Carrie, her mother, worked as a laundry cleaner to make ends meet. She subsequently wed Arthur Martin, with whom she had three more children.
Career
Baker began working as a live-in maid for white families in St. Louis when she was eight years old. On occasion, she was overworked and tortured. Josephine’s hands were burnt by a woman who used too much detergent in the laundry. Baker quit education at age 12 and began to survive on the streets. She slept in cardboard shacks in St. Louis’s neighbourhoods and foraged for food in trash cans. She obtained employment at the “Old Chauffeur’s club” at 3133 Pine Street at the age of 13.
A year later, during the Harlem Renaissance, Baker moved to New York City and landed a part in the chorus line of the Broadway musical ‘Shuffle Along’. In 1925, Baker sailed to Paris, where her erotic performance was an instant success. Several years later, Baker became France’s most prominent American entertainer. Baker was the first African-American entertainer to perform in Yugoslavia in 1929. Count Giuseppe Pepito Abatino accompanied Baker on her journeys through Yugoslavia. At the time, she performed in opulent venues in the city, but most of her performances were cancelled due to opposition from the morality police and local clergy.
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Freda Josephine McDonald Biography: Facts
- She owned numerous animals, including a chimpanzee and a leopard.
- Baker’s affection for children led her to adopt several.
- Baker was urged to become the new leader of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement after Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder, but she declined.
- Grace and Baker were close companions.
- She was the first African-American actress to feature in a significant film.
